School bus driver accused of threatening boy if 'naughty' piks weren't forthcoming

Michael Chick (Police mugshot)

CONCORD - It began with a bus driver offering small gifts to an 8-year-old Greenland boy and escalated to threats against him and his family if he refused to take "naughty" pictures of himself in a school bathroom, according to disturbing court documents filed in the arrest of a Maine man on Friday in federal court.
Michael Chick, 39, was charged with a single count of interstate stalking, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced on Monday.
Chick, who was employed as a school bus driver for Greenland Central School, is alleged to have threatened the boy with shadowy groups and punishments if he didn't comply.
His parents became worried and notified school officials when Chick asked them if he could attend one of the boy's baseball games.
Chick had an initial appearance hearing in federal district court on Monday and will be held pending a detention hearing set for Aug. 18.
The arresting document filed on Friday noted that Chick also left letters at the boy's home whenever he or his sister were absent from school to tell them how much he missed them.
On May 6, Greenland police caught up with Chick for the first time, and asked him whey he thought they wanted to speak with him.
Chick replied, "Probably had to do with the boy." Chick was then told to have no more contact with the boy or family.
Police later learned that Chick had convinced the eight-year-old to accept two phones with which he was urged to send "naughty" pictures or risk consequences to himself and his family.
They also learned he had secretly installed tracking devices on both family cars, later recovered by police, and that he was insinuating to the boy that some shadowy group of up to 800 members posed a threat if he didn't comply with their demands.
"We're still in this situation, right?" Chick can be heard asking him on May 13, according to the complaint. "Have you been worried about it?"
"Yeah," the boy replies.
"I'm doing everything I can to stop them from doing very bad things," he added at another point, according to the affidavit.
The boy related much of the sordid details on Friday leading to Chick's arrest.
A search warrant executed on Friday at Chick's home found a large baggie of children's underwear, and a note addressed to the boy.
"Good job, you were great last night. Thank you. You saved yourself. Would have taken you away on Friday," it read.